Ore-concentrating apparatus.



' G. W. BURNHART.

ORE CONCENTRATING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED JULY 13' I9I4.

1,218,977. Patented Mar. 13, 1917.

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l/IlI/E/VTOR 4' ATTORNEY G. W. -BUHNHART- ORE CONCENTRATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED IULY13. 1914.

Patented Mar. 13, 1917 2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

GEORGE W. BURNHART, F DENVER, COLORADO.

ORE-CONCENTRATING APPARATUS.

1,218,977. I Specification of Letters Patent.-

- Application filed July 13, 1914. Serial No. 851,217.

. To all whom'z't may concern:

7 Be it known that I, GEORGE W. BURN- HART, a citizen of the .UnitedStates, residing in the city and county of Denver and State of Colorado,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ore-ConcentratingApparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to ore concentratingapparatus, and particularlyto such apparatus as makes use of a table or deck across which is run astream of water while the table is reciprocated for the purpose ofseparating the concentrates out of the ore'material. The invention isconcerned mainly with the table or deck of this type of apparatus, andaims to provide a table of a new andimproved form of constructionwhereby the ore concentrating action will be, rendered considerably moreeffective and the capacity of the table materially increased. Theimprovements involve also a novel form of construction for the take-offor discharge of the concentrates separated while traveling across thetable, by means of which further efliciency and increased capacity areobtained.

Having this general object in view, the invention will now be describedwith reference to one practical embodiment of the same which has beendevised for carrying it into practice, as illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure I is a plan View of the table,partly broken away;

- Fig. II is a longitudinal section on the line II-II of Fig. I;

Fig. III is a sectional perspective View.

of the head or ore-receiving end. of the table,

the section shown IIIIII of Fig. I; 4

Fig. IV is a fragmentary perspective view being along the lineillustrating the discharge end of the launder or trough;

Fig. V is a sectional detail onan enlarged scale illustrating the actionof the water flow in connection with the riffies of the table; and

. Fig. VI is a perspective view of one of the sliding gate members atthe discharge end of the launder or trough.

Referring to the drawings, only the table pro er ofthe ore concentratingapparatus is s own, the means for supporting and reciprocating the samenot being illustrated,

since the same may be of any approved form and constitutes no part ofthe present invention. The body of the table or deck comprises a bottomplate portion 2 over which is arranged a series of longitudinallyextending timbers 4 in slightly spaced relation, and over these timbersin turn is laid a covering 6 of'any suitable material, such as lino-Patented Mar. 13, 1917.

leum, forming the floor of the table. The

table is constructed so that this floor will slope toward one of itslongitudinal lines,

other ore-distributing means (not shown),

and also the stop-brackets 14 adapted to cooperate with fixed elementsor stops 15 in imparting a shock or impact to the table brackets 12 forsupporting the ore box or i when reciprocated in the direction of itshead or ore-receiving end bymeans of any suitable reciprocating device,such for instance as the fiuid pressure motor, 15*, reference being heremade to applicants Patent #1,142,551, of June 8, 1915, for a fullunderstanding of said motor.

I Along the longitudinal line representing the lowest part of the tableit is-provided with a longitudinal opening 16, below which 7 is carrieda launder or trough 18 for the concentrates 21 separated from the orematerial in traveling down the table toward the foot or end of the tablewhere the tailings are. discharged. This trough or launder is secured tothe table at opposite sides of said opening 16, and the channel 19forming the bottom of the trough is inclined from the foot or tailingsend of the table so that the trough increases in depth toward the headof the table where the concentrates are discharged (see Fig. II). Thetrough is suitably braced at intervals from the sides of the table bymeans of a series of stays 20.

At its deeper end the trough 18 is provided with a gate member 22,.sliding vertically within the retaining lugs 23 carried by the sides ofthe trough, and adapted to operate as avalve for providing an adjustabledischarge opening between its lower end and the bottomof the trough (seeFig. IV), said sliding gate member being clamped,

when adjusted, by means of a wing nut 24 and a bolt 26 carried by'anupright flange 28 at the top of the discharge end of the trough, saidbolt extending through a slot 30 in the gate member 22. Adjacent itslower end the gate member 22 is formed with an opening 32, passagethrough which is adj ustably controlled by a second gate member 34 alsosliding vertically within said retaining lugs 23 and provided with aslot 36 to accommodate the bolt 26. The lower edge of the gate member 22has an out-turned portion 38 to form a chute for the material dischargedthrough the opening 32 into a different vertical plane from thatdischarged from the other opening at the bottom of the trough. As manydischarge openings may be provided as may be desired at differentelevations, by means of additional sliding gate members on the order ofthose above described, for the purpose of separating the concentratesaccording to the layers or grades into which they settle in the trough.

The surface of the table is equipped with a series of rifles or ribs 40extending from the sides of the tableand diagonally across the same inthe direction of the head of the table to the opening 16, the riflenearest the head end of the table extending between the head end of the.table and the adjacent end of the opening 16, as illustrated. It will beobserved that the side of each rifle or rib 40 facing in the directionof the foot of the table is undercut for the purpose of overhanging andshielding to a certain degree from the water-flow such mineral asbecomes lodged against said undercut sides of the rifles by thereciprocating action of the table. Furthermore, the top surface of eachrifle extends throughout in the same approximately horizontal plane, sothat the only unbroken path for thewater-fiow is across the top surfaceof all the rifles at a slight distance above the courses followed by theconcentrates along the bases of the rifles toward the opening 16 intothe trough (see particularly Fig. V).

With the foregoing construction, it will be understood that the oreconcentrates which settle throu h the sands and waste material as thetab e or deck is reciprocated will be compelled to move along in thedirection of the rifles 40 toward the opening 16, through which theywill drop into the launder or trough 18. The, slope of the table in thedirection of this opening facilitates this travel of the concentrates,and as the action of the table in reciprocating causes the concentratesto be lodged against the undercut faces of the rifles, the concentratesare thus shielded from the force of the water-flow (as illustrated inFig. V) and allowed to ass down along said overhanging faces wlthoutmaterial danger of being dislodged before reaching the opening into thetrough. This works a considerable economy since more of the concentratesare saved which would otherwise pass over the foot of the table with thetailings; and also gives greater capacity because the concentratestravel faster down an incline than they would along a surface morenearly level. The formation of the rifles with their upper surfaces inpractically the same plane also aids in bringing about the above resultsince the current of the water flow is maintained principally above thespaces between the rifles so as to disturb as little as possible thecourse of the concentrates toward the trough. in these respects,therefore, this combined feature of undercut or overhanging rifles upona transversely sloping table surface is conceived to possess veryimportant advantages over the types of reciprocating tables heretoforeprovided for this purpose; The trough 18 is arranged to take theconcentrates passing through the opening 16 at any point along the same,and it is apparent that the depth of the trough is so graduated as notonly to suit the requirements as to the amount of the material receivedat the various points alon the opening, but also to provide a path 0travelfor the concentrates which is inclined in the direction in whichthey are traveling; consequently, the material will move the morerapidly down such an inclined path and thereby make roomfor moreconcentrated material, with the result that the capacity of theapparatus is still further increased. The adjustable sliding gates atthe discharge end of the trough provide outlet openings at differentelevations through which the material may 'be discharged and at the sametime separated according to the layers or grades formed in the trough,thus always insuring clean concentrates as they will be taken from thelowest point in the trough.

While the foregoing represents what is now conceived to be the preferredmode of carrying the invention into practice, the right is reserved tosuch changes and modifications as may fairly fall within the scope ofthe appended claims.

Claims:

1. In an ore concentrating apparatus, a table having its upper surfacesloping from the sides toward an intermediate lme extendinglongitudinally of the table, and rifles extending across the upper faceof the table from said sides diagonally in the direction of the head orore-receiving end of the table, the entire upper edge of each of saidrifles lying in approximately the same horizontal plane, and means forimparting a shake to the table, adapted to propel the concentratestoward the head of the table.

2. In an ore concentrating apparatus, a table having its upper surfacesloping from the sides. toward an intermediate line extendinglongitudinally of the table, and riftoward the head of the table.

3. In an ore concentrating apparatus, a table having its upper surfacesloping from the sides toward an intermediate line extendinglongitudinally of the table, and riffles extending across the upper faceof they table from said sides diagonally in the direction of the head orore-receiving end of the table, said riflles being undercut on theirsides facing the foot ortailings end of the table and the entire upperedges of said rillles lying in approximately the same horizontal plane,and means for imparting a shake to the table, adapted to propel theconcentrates toward the head of the table.

--l. In an ore concentrating apparatus, the

con'ibination of a table having its upper surface sloping from the sidestoward an intermediate line extending longitudinally of the table andprovided with a longitudinal opening along said intermediate line andwith riffies extending across the upper face of the table from saidsides to said opening diagonally in the direction of the head orore-receiving end of the table, said riflies being undercut on theirsides facing the foot or tailings end of the table and the entire upperedges of said rifiles lying in approximately the same horizontal plane,and a concentrates trough underlying said opening, and means forimparting a shake to the table, adapted to propel the concentratestoward the head of the table.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

- GEORGE W. BURNHART. Witnesses Lo'r'ra, R. CASE, BELLE S. FELIX.

